HOUSTON
Five members of the violent Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang were charged with conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering, officials announced Tuesday.
Wilson Jose Ventura-Mejia, 24; Jimmy Villalobos-Gomez, 23; Angel Miguel Aguilar-Ochoa, 35; Walter Antonio Chicas-Garcia, 23; and Marlon Miranda-Moran, 21, appeared for their arraignments and detention hearings
All are El Salvadorian nationals who illegally resided in Houston, Texas.
Also charged is Franklin Trejo-Chavarria, 23, who is currently in custody serving a sentence in El Salvador for charges there.
(2018 News Story)
The indictment alleges they committed the June 6, 2018 murder of 25-year-old Victor Castro-Martinez to get ahead in the MS-13 enterprise. The victim was hacked to death with a machete, according to police.
According to court documents, Castro-Martinez was working as a police informant and was wearing a recording device when he was taken to the southwest Houston park under false pretenses. Castro-Martinez sent his handling officer a text with his location, which was the last communication he sent to the officer, according to the documents.
A recording device that had been given to Castro-Martinez by his handling officer was found in his pocket, according to the court documents.
Cellphone records of people who were already under police surveillance helped narrow down people who were in the park with Castro-Martinez when he was killed, according to the documents.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment on Nov. 12. All are charged with conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering, according to authorities.
The indictment alleges the defendants committed a 2018 murder in furtherance of the MS-13 enterprise. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and Houston Police Department conducted the investigation.